(Newser)
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General Motors is planning to invest $246 million—$105 million of which will come from a Department of Energy grant—in a new electric motor production line. The project is expected to create roughly 200 jobs, and represents a big bet on the future of electric cars. GM officials likened the importance of the technology to that of engines in gasoline cars.

Though the company hasn’t announced the location of the line, sources tell the Washington Post it’ll be in the company’s Maryland plant; Maryland’s governor and one of its senators have a news conference scheduled there today. The announcement comes just ahead of this week’s Washington Auto Show, where companies are expected to tout their job creation efforts. Ford, for example, is creating up to 1,200 jobs with a new $400 million plant for its Explorer SUV.